Step by step, Obama and Clinton come together for common goal

June 20, 2008

Hillary Clinton’s gracious, classy concession speech in DC a couple of weeks ago went a long way towards promoting some intra-party unity, but to her enormous credit, the senator is just getting started. Clinton vowed to work her heart out to help Obama, and it’s clear she meant it.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s campaign announced Friday that he will campaign with former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton next week, a step toward unifying a fractured Democratic Party after a bruising primary fight.

Obama’s campaign said in a brief e-mail that said the two senators and former opponents will campaign together for the first time on Friday, June 27, and more details would be forthcoming.

A day earlier, Obama and Clinton also plan to meet in Washington with some of her top contributors in an effort to calm donors who remain frustrated with Obama’s presidential campaign. The former first lady will introduce Obama to her financial backers.

It’s worth remembering that this can’t be easy, on a personal level, for Clinton. For the last few months, she wanted to share a stage with Obama, not for a campaign rally, but for a 23rd debate. Clinton was a “team player” in her concession speech and said all the right things, but it would have been easy for her to take some time to readjust to post-campaign life and decline invitations from the Obama campaign, at least for a while.

But Clinton is doing the opposite. What’s more, next Friday’s event isn’t an isolated gesture.

Late yesterday afternoon, Clinton, as she’s done before, urged her top fundraisers “in no uncertain terms to throw their weight” behind Obama.

“I am going to do everything I can to ensure victory for Senator Obama,” Hillary told her fundraisers on the call. “I am asking each of you to do the same. I really believe we’ve got to see a Democrat sworn into the White House this January.”

The call, which [Greg Sargent] was able to listen to in its entirety, left little doubt that Hillary was unequivocally signaling to her top financial supporters — who are being actively courted by Obama — that the time had come for them to do their part in getting him elected President.

Hillary added that “the stakes are too high” to do anything but “do all we can to elect Barack Obama President,” in order to “turn the economy around” and “protect a woman’s right to choose.”

As long as we’re on the subject, I just wanted to add one thing. There’s a new email that’s been making the rounds, encouraging liberal, Democratic Clinton supporters to support conservative, Republican John McCain, and responding to the Roe question.

The email argues, “Please do NOT threaten me with ‘Roe vs Wade.’ Been there, done that. Eight years of Ronald Reagan followed by four years of George HW Bush and we still have our reproductive rights.”

I’d just add two points. One, women’s rights extend beyond just Roe. Two, there are four votes to overturn Roe on the Supreme Court right now, and McCain would add a fifth. Indeed, he’s vowed to do exactly that.

That’s not spin; that’s arithmetic. I’m delighted reproductive rights survived the Reagan and Bush years (though these rights hardly survived intact), but the right is one vote away. Choose wisely.

Like I said before, just give Hillary a little time and space.

She’s going to be a lot better than Ted Kennedy (you know, the guy who supports Obama even though his state voted for Clinton) was for Jimmy Carter 1980
or Reagan was for Ford in 1976.

  • “Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s campaign announced Friday that he will campaign with former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton next week, a step toward unifying a fractured Democratic Party after a bruising primary fight.

    Obama’s campaign said in a brief e-mail that said the two senators and former opponents will campaign together for the first time on Friday, June 27, and more details would be forthcoming.” — Associated Press

    How about they get together this weekend and announce that the two of them are going to work together and filibuster the misguided “compromise” on domestic surveillance, and that they will continue their filibuster as long as the bill contains amnesty for the telecommunications companies?

  • She’s not “coming around.” She’s doing exactly what she said she would do all along.

    It is her former supporters who need to be coming around.

  • Step by step, Obama and Clinton come together for common goal

    Giving telecoms FISA immunity?

  • ” A day earlier, Obama and Clinton also plan to meet in Washington with some of her top contributors in an effort to calm donors who remain frustrated with Obama’s presidential campaign. The former first lady will introduce Obama to her financial backers”.

    I’m curious what Hillary’s donors are “frustrated” about? I think Obama has run an almost perfect, smooth campaign, so far.

    Any ideas?

  • I understand that they’re frustrated because so far, Obama hasn’t indicated what concrete steps he’ll take to help retire Clinton’s debt. He urged his donors to give money to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, so it appears that helping the Congressional elections is a priority for him (as well it should), and it seems that Hillary’s backers aren’t happy about that.

    A lot of them seem to be looking for reasons to be offended, because while I understand that her debt is a problem, complaining that it’s secondary to the next election and the Congress and Senate races is a bit petty.

  • It is her former supporters who need to be coming around.

    The overwhelming majority of them already have, as polls confirm.

    Only the handful of never-really-Democrats like you are holding out and pretending that your numbers are much larger than they are. It reaffirms my faith in Americans and Democrats to know that the truly vicious, selfish and irrational are so few in number.

    I’m curious what Hillary’s donors are “frustrated” about?

    He’s not Hillary Clinton.

    These, too, are a minority among Clinton donors, most of whom care about progressive causes and are getting behind Obama.

  • I wonder if that event is when he will announce that Hillary will be his running mate. Now that would bring the party together and go along way to delivering record democratic turnout in November.

  • Honestly, what I think is happening is that the Goopers are trying to milk this for all it’s worth…period.

    The more anger they can attempt to stir, the better they are.

    If you watch Fox and CNN (as I made myself do this week), it is all horserace all the time and the topic of Clinton v. Obama continues to dominate, but now it is in terms of Clinton supporters for McCain or Obama.

    They (the GOP) are driving this. And we are allowing it continuing to discuss Clinton in terms of anything but 100% support. She has given her support and real democrats are giving their support. What did I hear yesterday? A Clinton supporter who was going to McCain who admitted that HRC and Obama were similar on issues, but Clinton and McCain were closer in ideology. Riiiiiight.

    This is bullshit. This is not a democrat. And this is the person who will be on all the news shows because it’s horserace stuff.

    Clinton is a democrat and she will support Obama and we all need to work to get these pricks at the corporate owned media to get away from the horserace and into issues.

    Any suggestions towards that would be welcome.

  • we all need to work to get these pricks at the corporate owned media to get away from the horserace and into issues.

    Won’t happen. The corporate MSM loves horserace stories precisely because they are add fake drama to the coverage and because they distract from substantive discourse and thought.

    None of this will change until we do drastic surgery to media ownership, breaking up the corporate stranglehold on journalistic outlets and allowing journalists to pursue their craft without having an agenda forced on them by corporate ownership.

    Oh, also we’ll need to dump many of the current MSM practitioners because they’ve been intellectually compromised by the current, corrupt corporate media mindset. Whenever I watch cable news I’m reminded why I read blogs.

  • You want to know why Democrats lose? Because every day the Republican operatives pound on how bad Obama is and how great McCain is. And how do the Dems respond? By infighting about smaller matters and talking about fluff. No wonder we have been the weaker party for all of my lifetime. Just look at the WaPo and NYT opinion section just today. Sure Tiger Woods is nice, but while Robinson talks about that (instead of things that matter), Gerson goes to town with how horrible Obama is. Even Krugman can’t help but take a swipe at Obama in his column today on a subject where Obama is vastly superior to McCain.

    Awesome!

  • That’s not spin; that’s arithmetic.

    These dead-enders believe arithmetic is a sexist plot to enslave women. They proved that through the last months of primary season.

  • Hey, Maria at 8 – when Mary at 4 says “It is her former supporters who need to be coming around,” I’d say she’s holding a white flag and attempting to rejoin the group – that is assuming that it’s the same Mary we’ve been disagreeing with these many months. It’s going to be pretty hard for some of us to let some of her bygones go from the memory banks, but Sen. Obama would probably approve of us cutting her a little slack for now…

  • I wonder if that event is when he will announce that Hillary will be his running mate. -Patrick

    Go back to sleep lest your dreams continue to spill into reality. That simply is not going to happen. The dead-enders that still haven’t accepted Obama still wouldn’t be satisfied with her as second chair.

  • …that is assuming that it’s the same Mary we’ve been disagreeing with these many months. -Stephen1947

    I’m certain beyond a shadow of a doubt the Mary who has commented over the last couple of days is not the same Mary.

    Either that, or she’s on new meds.

  • I’ve said it before, if not here, then on other sites: By helping to vet Obama, Hillary was very good for him, and she’s going to continue to be good for him. He recognizes that 100%.

    I hope her haters can see that now. I’ll admit a few of her comments were questionable at best, but the ‘worst’ one about the commander-in-chief test was actually a valid complaint. It was a comment on experience, but said in a very poor way (one that is not easily taken back).

  • I’ll just say I’ve always enjoyed Mary’s posts, even if if didn’t agree with them. I hope she stays with the group and joins us in supporting Obama. Same for other Clinton supporters. We won’t defeat McCain by demonizing each other.

    every day the Republican operatives pound on how bad Obama is and how great McCain is.

    I don’t think it’ll help them much. Presidential elections are, by and large, a referendum on the incumbent party’s performance. Eight years of Republican misrule have left the GOP is such a deep hole they may not climb out for years. McCain, a weak candidate by any measure, won’t get it done in a few months no matter what he does.

  • It is her former supporters who need to be coming around. – Mary

    I disagree, there is no such thing as former supporter. I will always be a Clinton supporter, I’ll just have to wait to vote for her as the democratic nominee some other election cycle.

    BO is the presumptive nominee, and for that I’ll give him the respect that title deserves as the standard bearer for my party.

    Winning over Clinton’s supporters is not going to be easy, but it’s the independents or republicans who supported Clinton who are more likely to support McCain than democrats, although the VP choice is going to be decisive.

    I hope for the sake of our nation and party he chooses Clinton as VP.

  • I agree with Stephen @14… to cut Mary some slack. If she is seeing the light now, and acknowledges that it was not so much Hillary but her supporters with all the venom over the last several months…. Why not let it go.

    I’m sure that the former supporters who spewed all the venom will be able to be re-educated about the real issues, without their minds being clouded. The ones who can’t overcome it… We never had those votes anyway; they have always been closed conservatives hoping that McCain could easily beat Hillary in the general. (Think about the so called ‘baggage’ the GOP would love to throw at us – again)

    Let’s not waste too much time on the intellectually lazy and ignorant ones. I’d say let Mary have her say; she may be able to share some insights in where the venom was coming from. Who knows it may help us understand some of the morons on the other side who think McCain is the best choice.

  • Hey, Maria at 8 – when Mary at 4 says “It is her former supporters who need to be coming around,” I’d say she’s holding a white flag and attempting to rejoin the group – that is assuming that it’s the same Mary we’ve been disagreeing with these many months.

    If this is the same Mary (and if it isn’t, I look forward to her saying so), I see nothing in her post to indicate she’s holding a white flag. I see a continuation of her longstanding and persistent Eeyoring with the gloomy (and completely incorrect) prognostication that Clinton supporters in general are not going to vote for Obama.

    I welcome with open arms everyone who wants to support our Democratic nominee. I am not inclined to waste precious time or energy trying to convert people whose minds are welded shut against voting Democratic this fall, and who wish to carry on their vocal rejection of Obama under the false pretense that they represent more than a handful of people with mixed-up priorities.

  • “Please do NOT threaten me with ‘Roe vs Wade.’ Been there, done that. Eight years of Ronald Reagan followed by four years of George HW Bush and we still have our reproductive rights.”

    Now *that* is elitist. I’d like to ask the “democrats” who wrote that which state they live in. A big blue state, perhaps? Like California or Massachusetts? I wonder if they know the situation women live with in Alabama? Or Louisiana? Or South Dakota? Or more rural areas of those same big blue states, like Kern County in California?

    It’s easy to say we still have reproductive rights when you live in an area that respects them, or you have the money and resources to travel somewhere else that does.

    The fact is, women’s rights to control their own lives and bodies have been under attack for all of human history, and the GOP really is dangerously close to taking over the courts and turning us back into second-class citizens.

  • If THIS Mary is good ol’ Black Hole Mary, my money’s on her saying that she’s just flat-out not voting. She’ll whine that Obama talks a good game, but she just doesn’t think he can deliver a win in November (ha!) and even if he DOES win, he won’t be an effective or compelling President. Such is her stupid, stupid hubris. OF COURSE, if she’s a true progressive, if she’s a true Clinton supporter, she’ll follow her leader’s suggestion & support Obama, but I’d bet a nickel she just doesn’t have the fortitude to admit her Clinton cause is lost. Best to take her ball, er, vote, & go home.

  • Take a hard look at what Hillary is doing it is not any different than what the Republicans are doing in a basic rally.

    But, for me there is total agreement that in this whole spectrum usually very few in history in high government in America goes to jail or is convicted and condemned for crimes against the Constitution. Especially the President. A few Representatives here or there are convicted though the ratio to damage does not compute, Olbermann in his daily “Bushed Gate” reporting illustrates that perfectly so much is going corrupt but no one is going to jail. But for the most part secrets are buried for generations to be forgoten which is “THE” problem. Most of the national security secrets made during ones life time need to be brought forward such as those made during the Vietnam War and this Iraq War need to be reviewed for the judgement and Constitutional effect. The electorate needs to think about it not the courts of the media. CNN,MSNBC,FOX or hate radio. The electorate need to savor the ideal Bush and Cheney, or the whole administration could go to jail after the election.

    The electorate needs open reveiw and bring out public investigations. Also, ladies and gentelman of america intellectual property rights are out of control and riding rough over the Constitution. In fact much of the American Patent Office should be investigated for total abuse and connections to political operatives that operate with greed and secret motives to generate the best of profirteering. To be sure energy is core corruption now.

    Simply put, the judgemets are deliberately buried for decades to be forgotten when in fact serious crimes have been comitted for decades by long standing political operatives Democratic and Republican. This has to be cleaned out for change to occur other wise America is going to slide along just as our War in the middle east is sliding along in never ending loop hole of corruption greed and power grabbing. One could profess Democrats will retire in huge amouts just as the Republicans are. Perhaps the nicest and gracious way to change, but long time time political operative in this system worth multimillions will likely be taxed to redem theselves for long time fraud or face public humiliation in their families for generations in history.

    All sponsered and prapagandized by our media first line journalist all complicit in a collective to suppress, edit, shmooze, smear, misinform, tweek context, smear, sensatioalize trivia while hiding core ideals, is an on going directive from Mainstram Media across the spectrum. They know what they are doing. And they Know what American do not need to know. Tipfied by the last CNN report about FEMA giving away millions in Katrina supplies. Sheesh how long did that news organization sit on that. Likely the same time line they sat on the mercinaries fighting in Iraq…for years…

    The cutest questions that come to mind are ones like Chris Mathews asks tell me something I don’t know. here, America is witness to a reporter type parlaying his career into politics, like lou Dobbs with a smile form selected emails that lead you think lou Dobbs should be President. Chris Mathews want Arelen Specters job, likely to support the Allen Greenspan Cash Cow Machine. All with wife Andrea Mitcheal giveing opinions and forcast for middle America. Very likely Andrea should be behind bar serving longer time than Martha Stewart. LOL.

    For Andrea Mitchell is privy to those well connected political ties to trillion dollar deals hidden by national secruity secrets is just incredible. One should laugh every time you see another hundred billion dollar Federal reserve deal going through with out so much as peep from CMSNBC. This whole channel is loaded with a bunch of smucks. I could remember Ronald Reagan saying about general electric progress is our most important product. At that time it was wonderful but now General Electric doing business with “”Iran”” is not good, in fact it is very contrary to the free market. I am so disappointed.

  • A pretty speech for her donors, yes. The good news is that Hillary says she won’t raise funds to pay back the $11M she loaned her campaign but will use fundraising to pay back her vendors. She also asked her donors to get behind Barack Obama.

    But this comment in the report leaves me very uneasy about how she will approach the women who voted for her:

    Interestingly, Hillary also suggested that she would soon be making public statements about the media coverage of the campaign, as well as the ways “women were discussed,” saying that she would “be doing more on that as we go forward.”

    I know she wants to blame some other factor than her own campaign for her loss, and maybe in her shoes, we’d want to do that, too, but the racism expressed against Obama was even worse, and she played into it to get the votes of “hardworking white Americans”. Furthermore, her own campaign had planned for months prior to the primary to play the gender card to change the subject if she came under fire. Even so, apparently she’s going to give this speech on sexism in the media with the approval of the DNC.

    I’ve said this before and haven’t changed my mind. She’d be a much nobler almost-won if she called on women who are threatening to vote against Obama as a punishment to consider what life would be like under John McCain rather than a Democratic administration. If she’d use THAT as the introduction to her talk about sexism in the media, that would alleviate a lot of head-shaking about her claims that sexism was the reason she lost the nomination. It’s possible she plans to do that in this upcoming sexism speech. She owes the party that much at least, and I will salute her if she does.

    She’d also be a much nobler almost-won if she called on “hardworking white Americans” to look beyond Obama’s skin color and consider what life would be like under John McCain rather than a Democratic administration. I’m not the only person who thinks her appeal to racists was horrible:

    And from her point of view, over a quarter of the people who voted for her today in Kentucky were people who said race was a factor in their decision. And it really means — I mean, she’s been talking about sexism in this race and she has complained about some in the last 24 hours.You know race is really playing an increasing issue. And it also raises the question in my judgment of whether she shouldn’t say, you know, if you want to vote against him because he’s black, I don’t want your vote. I don’t want to win that way. This has no place in this primary. — David Gergen

    She didn’t do that, so she should do what she can to repair the damage now. These two groups were a large portion of the voters she identified as being her supporters. She needs to take responsibility and do her utmost to turn them, not just her donors, toward Obama.

  • I’m glad that Hillary is going to campaign with him, but let’s not go overboard with our praise for her — yet. “It’s hard for her” Why? Every other defeated candidate in years has supported the party’s choice, and there is much less difference in their positions than there has been between other similarly-placed candidates.

    As for her ‘gracious and classy speech’ remember it was delivered, metaphorically, at gun point, since so many of her supporters — especially Rangel — made it clear that she had to make just this sort of speech. And I still found it had too much “mememe” and too little Obama — and NO condemnation of McCain.

    I’ll gladly withdraw every one of my objections if, in the ‘joint appearance’ she does three things that I think are obviously needed:

    Condemn McCain, by name and with specifics — not just a general ‘don’t vote for him.’

    Address her (purported) supporters of the “HillaryIs44,” Larry Johnson mold, and demand they stop spreading lies and slanders about Obama, Michelle, etc.

    In some way apologize for her “Obama brings only a speech” statement — and demands that the Republicans stop using it.

    I don’t see any of these requests as unreasonable, or demanding too much. “Don’t interfere with the healing”? It’s been weeks now, shouldn’t the healing already have happened?

  • They’re in total meltdown over at hillaryis44.org. Now they’re accusing Barack Obama of plotting the next 9/11. But its seems like there might be some snags in their plans to go to Denver to raise hell. One of them can’t get away from work to go….you guessed it, she has a “narcissistic, misognistic boss.”

  • ‘Yawn.’ She hasnt said this yet, she hasnt said that yet, she should be muzzled and jot say anything about sexism in the media which far transcended any racism in the media, she needs to apologize for this that or the other….Oh for God’s sake. Leave her alone. the primary is over, your guy has won, we are all supporting him including Sen. Clinton and given that she has already proved that she is a woman of her word I would heartily appreciate it if you all would cut her some slack, wait and see how the campaign develops, and save the BS retread of primary issues for your dreams. And her speech was not “gracious and classy”, it was gracious and classy, by whatever measure and whatever time period you want to examine. She did what neither Ronald Reagan nor Ted Kennedy could or would do. Give her some props. for God’s sake.

  • The 2 of them working together is just getting off the ground. It’s gonna be a whole new ballgame next week. You don’t work your heart out for your entire life, then lose, then wake up the next day ready to go to work for the guy that beat you. You need time to recover, get your bearings, take a few days off after 7 day work weeks for the last year, figure out the logistics of getting everything in order. Then when you decide how to proceed, you do it right. She is going to make us all proud, or at least hate her a little bit less. Obama is going to be a great President, no doubt there. I am sure he has all sorts of good plans for how she can best help his campaign. Getting the Clintons on board and on message should be a great example of what his administration is going to be like. I sure wouldn’t want to be a McCain supporter or a republican this year…That’s gotta hurt.

  • If she’s gonna campaign for him that’s fine. I just hope to hell and gone they stash Willy Wanker in a deep freeze somewhere.

    I wonder if that event is when he will announce that Hillary will be his running mate. — Patrick, @9

    The two of them yoked together into a single team would be “shatnes” — strictly forbidden in the Bible.

    Honestly, what I think is happening is that the Goopers are trying to milk this for all it’s worth…period. — MsJoanne, @10

    You may wanna replace that last word with something like “full stop”, or else you’re gonna have Prup after you for using sexist language 🙂

  • If Obama has the brain and guts to put Hillary on the ticket, I will vote Democratic. (leave his space empty, and check her) I’d love to see a presidential candidate win, with the VP getting more votes. A vote of confidence for her. Otherwise, as many others, I’m not interested in another superficial, lying political slimer, like BHO. I will become a “decline to state”, after years as a Democrat.

  • I am f****** sick and tired of having Roe v. Wade held over my head. I am also f****** sick and tired of MEN (and the new liberal YUPPIE women) not getting that we (Clinton supporters aren’t a bunch of dinosaurs roaming around looking to be fed by b.s. like this re: Roe v. Wade).

    Heed this message and heed it well: When you grow up and understand that women have far and away more concerns than Roe v. Wade (some of us actually, really, really work for a living). If your gray matter can’t figure this out and can’t think beyond dinosaur and cave level, I’m not gonna help you. Men in the Democratic Party, at least, have had years to listen and understand the pressing concerns women face. Hint: Roe v. Wade is just one of these concerns.

    So stop threatening and stop playing the pathetic one-note song. As a feminist who spent 20 years in D.C. as an advocate for civil rights, women’s rights, union/worker’s rights, and on poverty and choice issues, this is no small matter.

    So, you “choose wisely” and put your damned progressive attitude into some of these issues OTHER THAN Roe, if you care a whit about women and women’s concerns.

    • Comments are closed.